Focused Fluency - A Strategy to Become Fluent Faster

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[@QrooSpanish]

Join the Qroo Crew for More Content www.skool.com/qroo Want to thank me? Buy me a coffee www.buymeacoffee.com/qroo

[@d.b.cooper2677]

This is exactly what helped me start getting fluent in English. As soon as I moved to the US, I started working for a company that does pool maintenance, and without even realizing it, within a few months, I found myself capable of having a conversation about this topic with a lot of confidence because I had mastered like 99% of the vocabulary and common phrases used in that business. And since then, I've applied that technique to other areas of interest.

[@martinknows]

Listen to what this man is saying. His videos are very good at communicating how to learn any language. One additional piece of advice that he has said in a few other videos and is worth repeating is… Don’t stop trying to learn anything that you want to learn. Even if you only spend a few minutes at a time on learning something every day. Eventually you will accumulate a lot of knowledge. It is like the Grand Canyon. A long time ago the Grand Canyon was a shallow drainage depression where rain water ran off the mountains. If you have never been there, I recommend going. It is amazing. And proof that relentless effort cannot lead to failure. You can’t fail at something you refuse to quit trying to do. Learning something new requires some effort. But most of all it requires repeatedly doing something directly related to learning that thing. Nunca te rindo.

[@paulbradford6475]

Sound advice, Martin. Thank you. Olly Richards (not sponsored by him) has published many books from A1 to B2 level that treat with specific subjects. My favorites are those that deal with the causes and outcomes of WW1 and 2. Many expressions and specific words become second nature and allow me to read with greater comprehension.

[@davidr1147]

(tu) Nunca te rindas, (vosotros) nunca os rindáis o (yo) Nunca me rindo

[@martinknows]

@@davidr1147 yes, but I never give up/quit on you.

[@davidr1147]

@@martinknows what do you mean exactly? I'm not a native english speaker,. but believe me 'Nunca te rindo' is not correct anyway, I think you mean something like 'nunca me rendiré contigo', meaning alike: 'Nunca te abandonaré' or 'nunca te dejaré', those expressions refer to a person, if you mean 'I never give up "because" of you, (because the motivation or support you give me) would be: 'Nunca me rindo gracias a ti' If you don't mean 'because of', or 'thanks to' something or someone it could be: Nunca/jamás me rindo Nunca/Jamás me daré por vencido Nunca/jamás me rendiré So if you mean that you never going to give up with your spanish, you could say: 'nunca me rendiré con el español'

[@shadowqueen8042]

Thank you❤❤

[@lindas215]

Thank you so much! I love all your videos! This is a fantastic idea! I think instead of choosing a typical subject of interest or hobby I think my fluency focus is going to be learning to speak about my life and being able to ask about other peoples lives. (Background, interests, family, etc.) I think confidence in speaking about those things would not only bring great progress but it would be things you would talk to people about all the time. I love that having a specific focus feels doable and takes away the overwhelm and discouragement that usually becomes an obstacle. Thanks again!

[@ellenrosen1]

Your comments helped me identify my fluency focus! I'm retired and was having trouble finding a fluency focus but as you said - learning to speak about my life (a few careers, travel, hobbies, reading interests - and asking these questions of others) will generate more fluency and lead to interesting conversations. Very helpful post!

[@lindas215]

@@ellenrosen1 I’m so glad my post was helpful! 🥰 All the best to you in your Spanish study!💛

[@jsbutterfly11]

Wow! Light bulb just off. You have helped me identify my fluency focus. Thank you! It feels like the first miles marker that will boost my confidence

[@DavidVonR]

I live in the Southern US and I'm a native English speaker that works with a large number of Hispanics. I feel that learning Spanish would be helpful. Focused fluency would be focusing on retail-related Spanish vocabulary so I can communicate in Spanish at a basic level in a retail environment.

[@arnold2011]

This is a golden advice. I thought Paul would give me some general, boring, advice like so many others, but you, Paul, proved once again what a great teacher you are. Thanks! And yes I have a plan hence goal for my Spanish learning already. 😊

[@dianegoldfarb5692]

en dos meses mi coche va a tener un cambio de aceite.Empezaré hoy a aprender cosas a los trabadores, muchos de ellos son Latinos, y lo que hacen cada dia...dos meses!! ojala que pueda hacerlo. and now, I will look up and see how many errors I made in this message!! Me encantan tus videos. Tengo 78 ańos y vivo en Santa Monica,Ca.

[@janetleeharrison]

I'm definitely going to pick a topic and try this out! This makes a lot of sense to me. Just get really good at talking about one subject first before trying to conquer the entire language. Maybe I'll focus on one of my hobbies - gardening? Thanks Paul!👍🙂

[@blackblock86]

This is exactly how my Spanish fluency started shooting up due to me being a teacher. I started focusing on small phrases that would help me within my job and my listening skills as well. I think it's helped considerably, and I think I'm going to take this and use this technique to further my Spanish skills! Thank you so much for this!

[@vamosspañol]

😮 oh my God!! I can already see myself advancing!!! I'm very grateful for this!!! 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

[@jaimegleason9763]

Learning to speak on specific topics is what they call Language Islands. Learn about and focus on certain topics: work, family, hobbies, etc. When you have islands, you have a toolbox from which to draw a conversation. Also, don’t worry about grammar; focus on COMMUNICATION; not “getting it perfect.” Until you get the grammar and vocab, use visual communication- hands, facial expressions, body language. The key is to get your point across; no matter what the method.

[@HeidiSue60]

Good advice. I may even pop back in here as I go. So far I have a 53 day streak on Duo. I know, not ideal, but it's simple and it does introduce you to vocabulary and syntax just a bit. Also found Spanish Input for listening and transcribing. That has helped SO much with my listening comprehension. I also put on simple Spanish stories or monologues via a couple of Spotify podcasts. Last night, puttering around in a thrift store, I learned about driving too fast, camping, and accents. It was fun. I didn't understand even 25% of it, but I got the gist of all of the pieces. Also, your channel helps a lot with the grammar. Here's the formula, just insert infinitives LOL (I'm only up to lesson 5 Conocer y Saber) I've asked my kids for a sub to Babbel and hope it is a good use of my time. ALSO I just found a KZbin channel all about my favorite hobby IN SPANISH! My goal is to be bilingual, and the reason for that is mostly to help my brain as I'm in my 60's and want to keep sharp as I age. Now to find my focus. Thanks Paul!

[@gringaloca1193]

This is so true. I worked for a large catering company in San Francisco. We were a "mini United Nations." I had to communicate in Spanish with people from Venezuela, Honduras, Cuba, Salvador, Mexico, and the list goes on. It was the greatest learning experience of my life.

[@dawn2508]

They never learned English?

[@jzuffoletto]

I found a great way to kickstart this process for any focused topic. I created a number of ChatGPT prompts similar to the following example: "Please generate a vocabulary of nouns, verbs, adjectives and phrases for items relating to automotive parts, maintenance and repair in Spanish." What you get is a thorough listing of the requested language elements that you can immediately use to study up on ANY focused topic that you're not familiar with.

[@QrooSpanish]

That's a good idea. Thanks for sharing that.

[@SARbeaver1]

After watching 5 seasons of “Queen of the South,” I’ve become fluent in the language of cartels, murder, and brutality.

[@geofftoscano6804]

I understand your concern about using translators in badly considered ways. I now have a rule of thumb when communicating on WhatsApp with my Spanish friend: never send something i don’t fully understand or agree with. This means that i almost never use the translators, mainly DeepL, except when I’m really struggling, but i do often cross check. The biggest mistake is it doesn’t necessarily know if you are talking in the familiar, followed by over literal translation of an English term that doesn’t translate easily - two phrases I recently had problems with were ‘if i were you’ and ‘wish you were here’.

[@lindyhuey194]

Paul I have found your videos so helpful and this one is definitely no exception. I find myself needing to be able to speak with parents. I am a teacher in Southern California and there is quite often a language barrier that I would love to get through when it comes to keeping parents in the loop about their kid’s academic progress. I am having trouble finding a focused goal here as education is such a broad topic. Any suggestions????

[@flcodh]

McGraw-Hill makes a book, “Spanish for Educators” that is focused on communicating with ESL students and their parents. Saved me many times when I taught in Florida!

[@lindyhuey194]

@@flcodh Thank you so much!!! I am headed to Amazon right now to find it lol

[@ineslongonux1785]

Hi! it is very interesting all you share!! I´m a native Spanish speaker from Argentina, and I teach "Español para Extranjeros" and I think you have a great way to explain to reach clear goals. Thank you Paul!

[@lessons8708]

He knows what he talking about because he expresses reaching fluency in terms of "years". Learning decent Spanish in 2 years is viable. 3 months is impossible, as there are so many variations of the Spanish language. It's various dialects, accents, and slangs.

[@Robostomp]

This makes a lot of sense to me. In October 2022 I ended up coming to the north of Spain and first two months I was desperate to find any communication beyond small talks in the bank, the language school I had enrolled to and bars. My Spanish had really skyrocketed as I had found a band to play in, and since the music is my true passion for life, it finally made me involve in more and more speaking. I even remember catching some structures on the go such as "subjunctive + conditional" and some "aha!" moment in regards how to use them in real life. Still a long way to go though but applying the language in a specific field really helps, can't agree more on this video.

[@krkreidler]

I have been using chatGPT by attempting a paragraph in Spanish then pasting it into chatGPT with the prompt: please correct my Spanish and then use English to explain any errors.

[@QrooSpanish]

That's a great idea. Thanks for sharing that.

[@andymclellan6502]

Excellent idea! I work in a department store, so my goal will be to learn as much as I can about what to say to help customers and describe what I do, as well as identify the products and food we sell. My goal is Aug. 31 (this date is as good as any and almost a month from now). I have been ´all over the place´ in studying Spanish, so I will try this and get focused. Today´s lesson is how to ask if someone needs help finding things and a grocery list. Thanks for the video. I will let you know how it goes.

[@AlumniQuad]

I WANNA FLY IN THAT FOCUSSED FLUENCY PLANE AND START POPPIN' DO-HICKEYS INTO SENTENCES

[@CAMAS_7]

I’m a veterinarian and am trying to learn to help my clients who only speak Spanish. This barrier prevents them from feeling comfortable, and seeking care for their pets. I want to change that. This video came at the right time because I’ve been thinking that it might go faster if I just focused on getting better within the context of my job.

[@deviantmultimedia9497]

Thank you for giving me a proper title for this type of learning. I can attest to the potency of this method. During the lockdown I taught myself electrical engineering using focused fluency, albeit unknowingly. I set out to accomplish one thing, I wanted to design a guitar amplifier for myself. I skipped all the necessary academic prerequisites like physics and circuit analysis and just focused on knowing what I needed to know, only dipping into the "boring stuff" whenever I hit a wall. At first I considered it cheating, a cheap shortcut to the finish line of my goal without much hope for retaining any respectable grasp of the broader subject of EE. But the truth is, I was always hitting walls, which meant I was always having to dip back into the boring stuff in order to move forward. The beauty of it is, the theory-aka the "boring stuff"- started out as just a necessary evil but quickly became indistinguishable from the FUN stuff because they are actually one in the same. After hitting enough walls and learning enough snippets of theory to get me over those walls, I got to the point where the snippets wouldn't satisfy me. I knew damn well that there would be another situation where another type of capacitor is used and I would need to know why so I opted to learn about capacitive reactance, temperature coefficients, dielectric absorption , all the nerd sh*t. It was still the same necessary evil that it always was, the difference was now it was a lot less evil because I WANTED to learn it, and that makes all the difference when it comes to retention and my ability to fully grasp a concept. And once you get there it starts to snowball, the broader topics are now your snippets and since you've already learned bits and pieces of them along the way, you're learning them in a fraction of the time. All the while it still feels like it's all part of the cheap shortcut you think you're taking until you realize there are no more walls. Then, once you spend enough time in a place without walls, you might just say to yourself "I got this sh*t." Focused Fluency is a selfish shortcut to mastery where passion is the only prerequisite. I believe passion to be very important. It may have been sheer necessity that got the ball rolling for Paul but he obviously became passionate about the language at some point if not from the get-go otherwise it would have retired along with his job. Instead he actively thinks of new ways to teach the language to others-the sign of a true master with true passion-. As for me, I'm no master of electrical engineering but I wouldn't trust anyone making that claim as us humans are still in our infancy of understanding it. I can say that I design and build many types of audio amplifiers and most of them don't catch fire or explode, they actually sound pretty good. Plus, I did some online tests out of curiosity and I can pass most college-level EE tests with an A or a B (I got a 74% on one of them). I accomplished this within the span of the pandemic, however long that was, and I have no intention of stopping, maybe just to slow it down a bit while I learn Spanish :)

[@wickman.r4662]

Eating an elephant, one bite followed by more bites.

[@raykarr6062]

This seems like a great idea. My goal is to be able to understand television newscasts in Spanish. Is that goal narrow enough, or do I need to restrict it further and only watch certain types of stories, for example business news or political news?

[@QrooSpanish]

I think understanding the news is perfect.

[@kaym.2854]

I'm so trying this! I'll update you guys on how it goes. Skipping off happily 🤗

[@patricemorrow4671]

Hola Paul. I really appreciate this video on how to actually acquire the language. It motivates me each and every video. I had a question regarding this topic. First, I'll explain a little. I moved to Spain to learn Spanish for one year. I am on month 5 and I feel like I'm barley scratching the surface. I attend classes everyday and to be honest, it's not sticking like I'd hoped. However, I have been applying to jobs here in hopes that I can truly immerse myself into the culture and in hopes of acquiring the language in this way. I'm a very hands on, kinesthetic learner and I feel so confident about learning Spanish in this way. In a few weeks, I'll be having a job interview and I'm not confident at all about it. I'm very nervous and ashamed and I don't want to just copy and paste my speech into translation and memorize what I'm going to say. I actually want to make sure I'm understanding what is being asked and I want to be able to converse in a normal natural way. Do you think this method that you mention can help me achieve this type of fluency within 3 weeks of practice? Thanks a bunch. My "level" is B2 but my speaking ability feels like A2. Anything helps!

[@QrooSpanish]

Yes, I think this method is perfect for your situation. Focus on becoming fluent in that target area of obtaining and doing that particular job. That will often involve some memorization of phrases and even sentences that you will continually use. The rest you can fill in with more improvised speech. Good luck!

[@patricemorrow4671]

Wonderful! I will give it a try and provide you with feedback! :) Thank you for all the work that you do :)@@QrooSpanish

[@hardsayings2400]

Here in Mexico I give out a business card-sized gospel card with the gospel of Jesus Christ written on it. Invariably I need to ask a question or make a stock phrase in spanish as I do that. I will keep track of the statements I couldn't make in spanish but wanted to and then I'll go do some research on the correct way to say that in spanish.

[@lancelotlink6545]

You are really hitting on something that I think can really help me. I find myself getting demoralized by the fact that I can watch and completely understand certain shows or videos ( on travel or from spanish teachers and a few specific subjects) then try to follow conversations in different situations and feel completely lost). The problem stems from a combination of vocabulary and pronunciation and speed. But that insecurity has led me to avoid trying to learn to speak fluently with the vocabulary I do posses. I have decided to adopt your idea. I'm going to try and focus on telling stories about my daily activities. Since I don't have spanish speaking partner to practice with I will try first by keeping a journal. As you say it should expose my gaps and weaknesses that I can focus on. Mundane but useful I think. Thank you!

[@petercameron5790]

Ahora entiendo cómo he logrado un nivel más avanzado que mis compañeros de clase. Empezamos juntos en 2020 pero los demás todavía tienen una habilidad básica. Cada semana he escrito un párrafo sobre un aspecto de mi vida o mi granja con gran detalle. Por ejemplo, ¿por qué hay una línea de plantas muertas alrededor de cada campo de cosecha? La explicación necesita un conocimiento profundo del ciclo de vida y el tratamiento de las malas hierbas. Cuando explico eso a los miembros de un grupo de conversación, que no son agricultores, tengo que darles hechos muy claros para que puedan entender.

[@jesuscruz5411]

😮 sin palabras.

[@jovicrazed]

Primary/secondary school English classes were a VERY long time ago. I couldn't tell you what present subjunctive even means without needing to look it up.

[@deborahpacheco2799]

Your way of teaching is unique. I've tried Pimsleur, got an Associate Degree in Spanish in 1 year & made A's. They had me doubling up on my courses. For example, the university I attended put me in Spanish 101 & 102 in the same semester. Then it was 103 & 104 in the same semester. I left with a degree & didn't know 1 bit more than I knew before I started. It was very frustrating. I really want to be fluent. For some reason my English speaking friends think I am. I know I am very far from it. I would love to be fluent. My sister in law who thought I was fluent thought I could take s test to become a medical interpreter for hospitals & work via the Internet at home. I wish! I just don't feel like I can learn fast enough.

[@vanguardcycle]

i get this completely. i've been in a super intensive one on one course for a minute and have been going hard with it, on top of that studying separate material and getting a ton of practice daily (live in south america) yet i feel like i'm just spinning my wheels most days. the thing is though, you will absolutely have breakthrough moments where you can see your progress, and those are so motivational. it's surely a slow process, but i do feel empowered now and have the knowledge that even for slow learners like us, if we just stick with it and stay consistent it will come.

[@mathierocker6900]

Focused Fluency -- very pragmatic suggestion, Paul. Do you think it might work for my rather lofty goal of being able to read Spanish literature in the original? I am retired and thus have the luxury of time to learn Spanish. I don't, however, have any practical goals such as those related to jobs and work; not even any goal of being able to communicate with real live humans. Do you think my head's in the clouds?

[@QrooSpanish]

I wouldn't call the goal lofty, but it is definitely challenging. I think you could use this approach. Perhaps you could set a goal of reviewing or summarizing these classics.

[@mathierocker6900]

@@QrooSpanish ¡Que buena idea!

[@miriamspandereta]

This is súper práctico! Sometimes we feel the need to “take on” the entire language. It’s better to focus one’s efforts on the primary area of need or interest, learning the grammar as you go. After experiencing success with basic grammar and your primary interest, start branch out to other topics.

[@user-zx1ml9lq4f]

Excellent advice. Makes so much sense. I'm a writer and want to talk about my books / writing with Spanish speakers. Would love to do readings at bookstores in Mexico - learning lists of verbs isn't cutting it. Thanks, Paul - I'm putting this to task!

[@QrooSpanish]

That's a great goal!

[@ianmccann8366]

Good suggestion. I am retired and living in Spain (Andalucía), after working in agricultural water management. This is an important issue here, with drought and climate change etc. Would this be an appropriate focus?. Also, Spanish in Spain is different (vosotros etc.) and Andaluz is a difficult accent. How can I identify people and resources to become fluent in Andaluz with a native speaker?. And can ChatGPT help with this form of Spanish? Thanks for great videos.

[@goldvideo]

Ian, Andalucía Spanish is still standard Spanish. I agree with you that it sounds different and can be very difficult to understand at first. If it's any consolation, I've met people from Madrid that say they have many problems understanding people from Andalucía, so don't feel bad. As far as conversing with people online, you can definitely find people on many different platforms (i.e. Tandem) that are from that part of Spain. Buena suerte tío!

[@ianmccann8366]

Thanks! I will try Tandem. I hadn't heard about it. Please keep doing your videos, really helpful.

[@dimwitsadvocate6264]

Great idea, I'm going to try it. I live in a small town and the only Spanish-speaking people own a Mexican restaurant. So I'll focus on pretending to work there and talk about topics relating to that business.

[@Action_Savage_]

This is what happened to me. I worked xray in a hospital that had MANY Mexican immigrants. I HAD to learn spanish to get my job done faster. Using the translator phone every time would take way too long. Then I found myself stuck, only able to speak "xray spanish". I couldnt have a pleasant conversation, only explain exams and give instructions. Now Im progressing further, and that base understanding from work is really helping me. My plan is to take subjects and hobbies I already am obsessed with, and learn how to talk about them in spanish with other people, read about them, watch videos about them. So far so good

[@docdmitch1380]

My method was finding a sexy Cubana to communicate with. Now we live together. There are other major benefits to this method 😉. Still working on my grammar though...

[@kcmint04]

Thank you Paul. I have a challenge to have a discussion with Fidel, a Honduran, about William Carey (missionary to India in 1800) when I return to Honduras, possibly in December. He is to use only English and I am to use only Spanish. I am going to set a goal to be able to do this using focused fluency by November.

[@QrooSpanish]

That is a very specific historical goal! Let me know how that goes.

[@lovellmendez2207]

So I've been low-key doing this but thought it was wrong because I wasn't learning Spanish properly. But now I'm going to rage. I'm gonna give myself the rest of the week to talk about my daily routine. Imma let you know how it went next Monday.

[@doughughes257]

Hola Paul gracias por tu dedicación a nosotros. cuando vi este este video por primera vez no pensaba que que era útil para mí. pero ahora después de 11 meses lo entiendo porque nos lo ha recomendado y mi español ha mejorado un montón.

[@realityczech7493]

Hola Qroo Paul! 😎 I am a Spanish teacher for high school. Levels one and two. If you could please send some videos that I could show my class that would be amazing!! We are just getting started with conjugating verbs, etc. and I want to inspire them to think in chunks, and like you said another videos, a practical application of the conversations. Thank you so much for ideas of how to teach basics and inspire them to start speaking quickly.🤩🙏🏼👍🏼 Also, the SHORTS are much appreciated!! I only have 45 minutes with both classesat the same time, so I need to use the time wisely. Ty!!

[@QrooSpanish]

Hi. Thanks for watching the channel. I have heard from numerous Spanish teachers who show my videos to their classes. You can play them right from KZbin in the classroom.

[@cindymccafferty8346]

Yeah, I can see that. I learned many things in an assembly plant. Pállelas, la machina de paletas, la basura (trash Gaylords), cuchillo for box cutter, firma con su nombre for sign the time sheets.

[@vikingfarmer3498]

I work in construction, everybody is Mexican. I am never going to ask them where the post office is lol.

[@dalesimpson7920]

I love this idea. I never thought about it like that but that's exactly what I'm trying to do. It was getting frustrating trying to learn so much so quickly. Great videos. Thx.

[@paulaswaim8434]

Paul, your videos are always so helpful and relevant. Thank you! Greetings from Evergreen, Montana.

[@denali_edc8199]

I live in Arizona and my (Spanish speakers)landscapers come every two week for yard maintenance. Before they arrive, I plan out what to say and what I need done in Spanish. Luckily the boss also speaks English, so he helps me with my pronunciation and grammar if I didn’t get it correctly. This has been a great way to accelerate my learning. I just wish they came everyday. 😂

[@dawn2508]

I just wish they would want to learn English the way you are learning Spanish

[@1979Mbrisson]

My son is an automotive tech student in a trade HS and is required to take Spanish this fall. I am thinking about focusing my Spanish on all things auto repair e.g. parts, problems, related verbs etc. I figure it would focus me to get better in a unique area as well as help my son pick up Sp.1 basics faster due to the relatable subject matter.

[@Ebony_BECOMING]

This is great advice. This is the reason that I do not like major language learning programs. They are not focused on the topics or words that I need to use everyday in order to retain the information.

[@deaconjohnsarabia1118]

You hit the nail on the head! I'm a Catholic deacon who was never taught Spanish even though it was suggested to Me many times. I was then assigned to a primarily Spanish parish. NOW I HAVE TO LEARN IT, AND LEARN IT NOW!! WILL GET BACK TO YOU. PROMISE

[@deaconjohnsarabia1118]

Learn prayers of Rosary by Sept 25

[@vickikubes5220]

Learn the Hail Mary first!

[@deaconjohnsarabia1118]

Our father, hail Mary and glory be already learned

[@spider2666]

Being as you refer to yourself as Me, with a capital letter, are you sure you're just a deacon ? 😉

[@vtrivedy]

This is a brilliant strategy and one that I have adopted. I chose a fairly easy goal- how to communicate simply in whilst on holiday in Spain. Very simple things like asking about things in a menu, or bus or train times, prices of things, location of interesting places, how to ask a person their name, telling them a little bit about myself and where I come from, was it safe to walk around at night, etc. It works wonders as you go on adding more vocabulary

[@jirehpsalmpaule6077]

This hit hard. I'm struggling how to continue since there's bunch of topics in the internet, I constantly find myself jumping from one topic to another ut I dont feel like I'm lesrning that much. Thanks for this advice¡

[@QrooSpanish]

You're welcome! I hope it helps.

[@josedelnegro46]

You are hitting on all 12 cylindres in this one❤. I sent 2000 dollars to Brasil for English class for the ex wife. Then I told her she had to meet me in Mexico and stay in Mexico to have a Mexicano teach her English. She was like what? Do you not mean to teach me Spanish? I said no. They will teach you English because a person who speaks Português knows Spanish even if they have never spoken it. She spends four months in Mexico. I visit her every weekend. On the weekends we walk around and she listens to me speaking Português mixed with Spanish. She learns how much Português a Spanish speaker will tolerate. She lands in Dallas. I ask her. How was your fight? She says: Quê, quê você está falando puxa! Não fala comigo em inglês. Quer a falar. Falar no Português. I said Amore como foi o volar? She said muito bom. Thén I bought a 📺 and cable. I told her do not Cook, clean, or any of that. Just watch TV. She had Spanish TV or English TV and 100 English movie productions dubbed in Portuguese with multi lingual subtiles. About two months into TV watching she said I want a job. I took her down to a pizza place and asked if she could work the front counter. The lady running the place was so happy. She had someone who would be happy working for almost nothing. Before the year ended the wife had a job in her field. She spoke English and Spanish well but most of all her Português became beautiful. Why did her Português became beautiful? Because only 68 percent of Brasileiro Can read and write and in Governado Valadares where we are from the percent is around 48 percent. What Paul is saying works? Will it work for you? Only you know that. Só, start now.

[@GoodEnoughSpanish]

Love that plane analogy. Couldn't agree more. When the going gets tough, the tough get going!

[@Barbara-lu7ch]

My original focus was to get a senior discount at the local junk food dispensery

[@lcdesigns6145]

😂 I hear you !

[@Top_Striker9]

I’m choosing football. Thank you.

[@wickman.r4662]

Hope to be competent at your first 3 of 10 lessons to Conversational

[@angelm.bouchard3722]

I'm an English teacher in AZ, and I already I knew that I wanted to be fluent enough to speak with parents during parent teacher conferences. I choose some words and phrases that I thought would be helpful, but I was still thinking I needed to have a much broader focus. I'm going to use this approach so that I can communicate with parents during parent teacher conferences by the beginning of October.

[@QrooSpanish]

Thanks for sharing that. I think that is a great goal and one that will require you to learn more aspects of the language in the process.

[@MrTheMAuu]

Hey Paul love your videos! I'm staying for 10 months here in Mexicó and have a big motivation to learn Spanish. What would you recommend except for this video?

[@QrooSpanish]

If you don't speak Spanish well, I would recommend this series: kzbin.info/www/bejne/boDdl2CjiNWAfM0

[@jasmine2leann]

❤

[@HGQjazz]

I have Spanish-speaking saxophone students. I could get better at communicating with them. 4 months?

[@QrooSpanish]

If you are being topic specific, yes.

[@gtberg]

That's great if your a police officer and only need to have a set group of questions and answers you need to speak. Or a restaurant worker who deals with taking orders from customers. "Chicken or beef?" Easy. But Focus fluency doesn't work for a lot of people, because the minute you step away from being a cop or a waiter, you are having spanish discussions about other things that you didn't learn and now you are lost.

[@QrooSpanish]

Learning a few questions and responses isn't focused fluency. It is the ability to be able to discuss that topic in a more advanced way. That requires you to be able to speak in more detail about the subject, listen to others and then formulate responses to what you hear. You mentioned officers. Although officers do use many set questions, especially when filling out forms, when they conduct investigations, the first question is generally, "What happened?" The responses can vary quite a bit from there so reaching a level where you can discuss everything from criminal to civil complaints is not easy. Not everyone's job lends itself well to this approach. In that case, you could choose a topic that interests you. But still, i have known more than a few folks in the restaurant business who used this approach to achieve overall fluency. Let's take your restaurant worker. They will start out with the basics of taking orders and asking about food allergies. Those interactions often lead to the person asking about their Spanish-speaking ability. Repeat customers start to engage them more during interactions and the conversations get more complex. I've recently spoke with a Cuban migrant who was using this approach. He is working behind the bar at a Mexican restaurant and he was telling me how the job is propelling his English. He mentioned at first he could barely take an order in English and now he is pushing himself to engage the customers more -- ask them what they did last weekend etc. Not every job is a good fit for this approach. In that case, you could always choose a topic that interests you and get good at talking about that. Whichever route you choose, the key is to push yourself.

[@2GringosOnTheGulf]

My wife has improved greatly in the past 20 months. Im truly struggling and rely to much on her. 😢

[@QrooSpanish]

You can two should practice with each other during the day. That might help.

[@rutht2023]

Thank you. I am thinking about who to practice with. :)

[@CDeeez94]

Fantastic advice and very well-spoken explanation. This definitely is the best way to learn language.

[@QrooSpanish]

Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[@specialopp333]

Ive been watching your videos for a while now and my spanish teacher asked me if i spoke spanish at home with my family and i was sl surprised thank u quroo wo you i dont thjnk i would have made it this far

[@QrooSpanish]

That's awesome!

[@sweetdragon36067]

One thing that is very important, covered in another of his videos is to pick a country instead of hopping to different Spanish speaking countries that have different accents but also may use different words for things. I am listening to someone in Cuba and her relatives that live in Ecuador and we are currently living in Panama. It can be very confusing to train your ear.

[@GoodEnoughSpanish]

Smart move! The Spanish language is too wide and diverse not to focus on a particular dialect. Not having one is a great way to go insane trying to learn Spanish! 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫. Once you have a solid base, then you can use it as a foundation to understand other Spanish dialects.

[@MegaRiffraff]

I need to-at least speak enough mexican spanish to communicate with Mexican farm workers .

[@QrooSpanish]

What state are you in?

[@christineolsson53]

Hi. My goal is to order foods and drinks at restaurants within a month because then Im goning to spend a month in Spain and then is perfect to practise what I learned. Thanks for the advice😊

[@QrooSpanish]

Sounds like a great goal. Have fun in Spain!

[@davidhsherrod]

Quiero hablar en español con un cliente sobre sus ideas y pensamientos de trabajo. Soy un Coach de liderazgo, y si puedo hacer unos sesiónes en español, pensaré que mi español será suficiente. (I expect there are problems with the above, but now I have a plan for what's next - reviewing my notes in English for themes and starting there.) My goal is to hold the first of those sessions by August 6, 2024! ¡Gracias, Paul!

[@melodykendall9620]

Starting today to learn Spanish !❤

[@QrooSpanish]

Awesome!

[@ymot25]

Thank you, muchas gracias.

[@dlukton]

A lot of truth here. I think that Spanish is taught in schools... the way it is taught... because (in part) it's easy to do... FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE TEACHER. The teacher has to be able to teach in such a way that it's generally useful to the students... BUT ALSO... the teacher has to teach in such a way so that it's EASY TO CREATE EXAM QUESTIONS, AND TO GRADE THE EXAMS.

[@dalemalloyfedbyravens4260]

Muchas gracias! Estoy aprendiendo español poco a poco y me voy a España en noviembre para estar con mi amor. Realmente me gusta eso. Explicas que hay una diferencia entre el español latino y el español europeo. Cómo desglosas la gramática en partes de las frases. Voy por objetivos específicos en mis estudios, específicamente para buscar trabajo cuando llegue allí y un lugar para alquilar.

[@Potentialwinner2]

Yes. I'm still not catching on to grammar and sentence construction. I'm using work to improve my Spanish, I work at a large hog farm operation. Truck drivers and specialized repair/maintenance workers typically "don't" speak English, I'm never sure how much English some of my other coworkers understand. Yes/no, Left/Right, broken/fixed, and numbers are all I can use, but I'm up to understanding half of their regular conversations now.

[@jayelle9420]

Thanks for the tip. Will try this week. Great teacher!

[@bandeiraminuto]

Great deal! I am Portuguese native speaker and I am fluent in medicine words in Englishlanguage and that helps me to develop the overall sense of confidence .... 😅 not at all for Spanish yet... maybe I should trying introducing myself to the third party.. Nice video !! Congrats! BTW, any Portuguese learning here?

[@TheTammyMcDaniel]

I absolutely love the idea of focused fluency. I walk my dogs daily so I chose that focus. On my walk, I came up with over a dozen sentences. When I got home, I decided to learn, “Do you want to go for a walk?” I first used Google translate, but the speech of the translator was so fast. I did learn the parts of speech, but I could not easily speak/repeat them. ChatGPT also helped me to phonetically pronounce the words too! Es fantastico!! This is what ChatGPT generated for me: Here's the phonetic breakdown of the Spanish sentence "Quieres salir a caminar?" into English: Quieres - Pronunciation: kee-EH-res salir - Pronunciation: sah-LEER a - Pronunciation: ah caminar - Pronunciation: kah-mee-NAHR

[@cathybroadus4411]

Actually, I was taking the day off. I was hitting it so hard but all over the place. You just solidified my thoughts. I love creative writing, I’m going to learn how in Spanish. I come to you for grammar. They already said I speak like a gringo. They hatin’ already, Qroo Paul. Why is her grammar so damn good? Because. Porque my hobby is the subjunctive and indirect objects.

[@amigosde4patas592]

Thanks for this video -- that's kind of what I've been doing out of necessity - but thinking I need to be more structured in my learning. My topic -- animal rescue work, specifically dogs. Holy cow - this one has me pretty busy.

[@MiaCruz]

I appreciate your videos so much. My goal is to hit proficiency by May 2024. Looking to move to Puerto Rico after graduation. Great advice to learn by subject. I just got a Spanish book for LEOs.

[@BrandonSallinger]

Anki as a phrase and word bank has helped so freaking much! Any time I've heard a new phrase or word or grammar point that seems helpful, I've just plugged it in and my spanish has literally skyrocketed. My deck is up to about 200 cards and those cards have helped me more than any of the hours of youtube videos!

[@samreh6156]

Focused fluency apparently involves total immersion, at least part of the time

[@QrooSpanish]

It requires interaction with native speakers on a regular basis but not total immersion.

[@onewheel9961]

thanks, can you explain why the word "pro" is used in this sentence. No sabría POR dónde empezar.

[@worldobserver3515]

Many times watching these videos I think: Man, this guy is young to be retired.

[@QrooSpanish]

Thanks. I retired 8 years ago, but I recently took a full time job again. My mother-in-law needed more assistance so we moved back to the States from Mexico.

[@conorosheafit]

Your videos are so helpful mate. Appreciate it. I am getting my study back on track now. I'm going to record myself talking for 10-15 mins in english and then can use that for what I want to learn in Spanish

[@Ed_Gein]

In a couple of years i wanted to get out of florida during the summer and stay in cuenca ecuador but everyday conversation sounds too broad.

[@QrooSpanish]

If you are just making small talk with people you come across, that isn't too broad. Those conversations tend to follow the same general path.

[@michael4930]

Another helpful video. Thanks Qroo Paul. I'm going to try this approach.

[@AnthonyHinesnusn]

This advice is a game changer for me. This strategy is like a curriculum custom made for me because it is focused on some thing that is immediately applicable to my occupation. I am a mental health professional and I have some spanish speaking patients. In addition, I just want to be fluent in spanish in general. Thank you for this inspiring video!!!....Happy New Year to All!!

[@ponderosapondhomestead4344]

I work with a lot of Spanish speaking people at my job. Going to try this approach. Thank you for this advice.

[@TheTammyMcDaniel]

OMG!!!!! I also just learned you can speak into Google Translate in Spanish to see if it translated your words properly into English! It really helps you pronunciation better!

[@davethechosen]

Makes so much sense. This is how I started learning Spanish in the beginning. That grammar and vocabulary I learned with this method is the stuff that stuck. Need to get back to this. Anyways, I will say learning general Spanish out of a vocabulary book hasn’t done much for my speaking ability. However, it has improved my listening and reading ability at a quicker pace.

[@RadhaSrinivasan-yv3gt]

Buenos tatdes!! I stumbled upon your video just a while back and this is the second video i am watching today. Yet another very useful . Muchisima gracias!! Yes, a very useful hint on starting on a specific topic.

[@johnblowes5406]

Hi Qroo Paul, Great videos and really like the presentation style. I watch to a lot of videos and a lot of podcasts especially when out walking or travelling - but I have a lot of trouble concentrating on the podcast (I'm easily distracted) - what would you recommend to keep focused? Thanks again. John

[@chucktaylor4958]

El vista bueno hombre. Gracias. 👍

[@QrooSpanish]

Gracias. Un saludo.

[@susannehernandez4748]

very good point. For myself being married to a Hispanic family I want to be able to pick up the phone and call extended family to make small talk about everyday life. But most important to me is to be able to talk to my mother-in-law who does not speak a single word English and is also blind. so, I made myself a list with phrases and sentences to help her around the house or simply ask if she needs my help. Then dissecting the sentences with your videos to understand the structure and the grammar overall! Paul you are a true blessing.

[@theresapuckett7786]

I am taking my 1st immersion trip in February. So my goal is to be able to communicate well with my host family. Shorter term, my goal is to ask a waitress at the Mexican restaurant in town if she would like to meet weekly to practice my spanish and her english. I will do this by Thanksgiving.